Friday, October 31, 2014

The haunting voice of Annie Lennox filled
the apartment, and when the singer crooned “I’ll Cast a Spell on You,” long,
shadowy fingers stretched out from the dark corner and crept along the wall toward
Lissa.

She fled to the kitchenette and peered out,
but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Of course, she’d imagined the shadows.

The timer pinged, and she removed the pan
of popcorn shrimp from the oven. The tiny forms reminded her of mangled body
parts, twisted and mutilated. She scraped the image from her mind and
transferred the shrimp onto a serving platter.

Weird thoughts like that had plagued
her ever since her roommate Selena had set her grandmother’s old crystal ball
on the dining room credenza and hung the matching mirror above it. Creepy-cool
decorations, but hopefully temporary.

“Did you remember the cocktail sauce?”
Lissa called to her roommate, who was still fussing with her costume in the
bathroom.

“It’s in the bag on the counter.”
Selena’s voice carried across the living room like a disembodied spirit.

Coldness wrapped its icy fingers around
Lissa. Stop. I’m letting my imagination
carry me away. She shook off the chill as she carried the platter to the
table. Midway there, fear halted her. Out of the corner of her eye, dark shapes
moved inside the mirror,broke free through the
glass confines, then soared to the ceiling. She gasped and whirled to face the
mirror. It was flat, static. The only image inside it was her own.

That scared her more than anything.

She wasn’t even ready, and people would
show up soon for the party. Each year, Lissa celebrated Halloween with more
enthusiasm than most. The spooky legends and mythology of All Hallow’s Eve lent
magic and mystery to the night.

All the more reason the mirror and
crystal ball frightened her. Selena might laugh about their supposed powers,
but not Lissa.

Selena walked into the living room.
Spiky tendrils of hair snaked about her neck. She’d heavily outlined her dark
eyes, Goth style, making her pale skin more striking than ever. Her silky black
top was cut low to show off her deep cleavage, enhanced courtesy of Victoria’s
Secret. Her skirt, if it could be called one, hung in strips from her waist to
mid-thigh, leaving a long stretch of leg down to her platform shoes.

Selena held out her arms and slanted
one leg across the other. “What do you think?”

Setting down the food, Lissa nodded her
approval. “Wow. You’ll knock ‘em dead. I’d better get dressed too.” She hurried
upstairs to her bedroom to throw on her costume—a one-piece Queen of Hearts
gown with a satiny red bodice that revealed only the top of her bosom. Red
hearts trailed the center of her gown to the floor. A black choker around her
neck and fake tiara atop her blonde hair, swept up into a French curl,
completed the outfit. When she descended the stairs, her regal air deflated as
the mirror captured her image. Her head buzzed with dizziness as her reflection
appeared to diminish, then disappear. She averted her eyes and hurried out of
its view.

Selena clapped and whooped with glee as
Lissa returned to the kitchen. She bowed with a flourish of her hand. “Queen
Lissa, breaker of hearts.” She cracked an ice tray into the bucket. “Which
reminds me—any word from Brad?”

Careful not to smudge her red lipstick,
Lissa popped a chip into her mouth. “I didn’t even invite him.”

“Seriously? I thought you two would get
back together, like usual.” Attempting to cover her faux pas at the hint of their multiple breakups, Selena busied
herself with refilling the ice tray.

“I’m moving on.” Lissa forced a
decisiveness into her tone she didn’t quite feel. “Tonight, I’ll find someone
new. I can feel it in the air. You did post the open house flyers on the
condo’s community bulletin board, right?”

“Yes. And in my office, and a few other
places. I also saw that cute guy in three seventy-seven.” Selena tilted her
head, appraising her. “You two would make an adorablecouple.”

Lissa had noticed him a few times as
she drove to the complex entrance. He always seemed to catch her staring at
him. Something about him caught her attention and wouldn’t let go.

“If he comes to our party, I’ll test
your theory.” She carried the cobweb brownies to the table.

The light reflecting off—and within—the
crystal ball made her look at it closer. She stayed to the side of the mirror
to avoid glimpsing her image within it.

“This is surprisingly authentic
looking.” Its three brass legs rose in carved curling scrolls from a white
marble base, cradling the clear white ball in its center as if it were an
offering to the gods.

Selena set the ice bucket on the table.
“Maybe it is. Didn’t I tell you? My grandmother used to make predictions with that
crystal ball. Once, my brother had a car accident after she ‘saw’ him in the
hospital. Gran told us in advance not to worry when the call came at two in the
morning, but my mom freaked anyway.”

The crystal ball was slightly larger
than a cantaloupe, its opalescence opaque with a shimmering depth. Lissa
couldn’t help but imagine it swirling to life with images of a possible
occurrence in the future.

She placed her hands around it and
giggled. “I wish it would show me whether I’ll get lucky tonight.”

“Not that I can think of.” Lissa peered
into the depths of the orb. A tiny glow pulsed in its center. She jerked back
with a gasp, and the light was no longer visible. A laugh, and she passed it
off as an optical illusion.

The oven bell dinged, and Lissa hurried
to the kitchen to fetch the artichoke cheese dip. When she brought the baking
dish back from kitchen, the crystal ball roiled with glistening gray and white
smoke.

At the sight, the dish slipped from her
hand, but she managed to set it down on the trivet. Drawn again to the ball,
she inspected it closely, looking for a battery slot, anything to indicate she
might have tripped a switch, or activated it somehow.

There was nothing.

Its hypnotic motion kept her
mesmerized, transfixed in anticipation. The wisps of smoke became denser and
solidified into two tiny cyclones, spinning wildly. The two twisters intertwined,
then shaped themselves into the figures of a male and female. The man held the
woman in his arms, his head nuzzled her neck, his face obscured. Within the
woman’s outline, Lissa’s own face emerged, enraptured with bliss as the man loosened
the bustier of her costume, and freed her breasts from the red silk.

Lissa gasped as she watched her tiny doppelganger
untie the strings binding the front of his white pirate shirt, and caress his
chiseled chest. His tight black pants revealed his appreciation with a growing
bulge. The other Lissa, noticing the fabric straining against the erection
beneath, said, “The Queen of Hearts demands satisfaction,” and unfastened his
belt.

“As you wish, my queen,” he murmured as
his lips moved down her creamy bosom. The tiny Lissa clutched his hair and
moaned as she slid a leg up to his waist and hooked her foot behind him. His
muscles flexed as he reached behind her, lifted her skirt and pushed her back
on the bed.

Lissa held a hand to her stomach as she
watched her diminutive self wrap her legs around this stranger, intent on
satiating her desires as much as his own, if the measured rise and fall of his
muscled ass were any indication. This guy moved with the skill of a gigolo,
undulating his body against hers. The slow movement titillated Lissa, her
breaths growing more rapid in pace with theirs, blood coursing through her
veins like a raging river straining against its banks. Licking her lips, the
taste of his sweat heightened her passion despite its surprise. The delicious
pressure built, and her nerves tingled as they tightened until shudders
overtook her from her core outward. A three-way climax, if she could count
herself twice. She blew ragged breaths through her lips, her mouth close to the
ball as she watched, as spent as the other Lissa lying in bliss, still happily
coupled with this man whose hands ran across her waist and shoulders and cheek
as if he hadn’t felt such exquisite skin in centuries.

If only she could have seen the face of
the man. And what was the meaning of this lascivious scene inside the crystal
ball? Had the ball responded to her request, or was Lissa just way overdue for
the attention of an appreciative man?

Selena entered the living room,
adjusting her costume. “That crystal ball’s a kick, isn’t it? Between that and
the Ouija board, my grandmother filled myhead
with all sorts of crazy stuff.”

Lissa smoothed her hair back from her
face as she hastily stood in front of the ball to hide her miniature tryst.
“Like what?”

“She always told me I’d meet a
mysterious stranger who would hold the key to darkness, and my friend would find
new strength in helping his nemesis, who held the key to light. The old good-versus-evil.”

“New strength?” Lissa wished she could
discover new powers within herself. She imagined approaching a secret door, beams
of brilliant light practically bursting past its outline. Her heart pounded as
she reached for the handle….

A rush of breath expelled from Lissa.
She tried to laugh it off, and hoped she didn’t sound rattled when she said, “Yes,
this dry spell is getting a little old.”

She couldn’t admit to Selena that the mere
presence of the mirror and crystal ball had conjured up strange sensations.

And Selena was right. Lissa had spent
far too much time waiting for Brad, always supposedly out with ‘friends,’ most
of whom turned out to be other women.

With a lascivious smile, Selena turned.
“Yeah, I’m ready to get wet, baby.”

Lissa chuckled. Her roommate was a bit
over the top sometimes. “Oh, Selena. You’re bound to get in trouble one of
these days.” A dark vision halted her—one of Selena in some dark place, tears
streaking her face, her screams muffled as she fought off someone—or something.

A baffled look crossed Selena’s face. “Are
you all right?”

“Fine.” Lissa’s breathless chuckle drew
a second glance from her friend. “Maybe I’m just nervous about tonight.”

“Nervous? We’re going to have a blast.”
Selena whirled toward the front room. “I know what will put you in the mood.”
She sashayed to the stereo.

Within moments, the Halloween
soundtrack pounded, and shrieks and ghoulish moans rose from the speakers.
Lissa gave an inward groan. Later, she’d put on music.

At the ding-dong of the doorbell,
Selena widened her eyes. “Our first guest,” she hissed, baring her teeth.

Startled, Lissa could only stare as her
friend’s platform shoes clomped across the carpet and she threw open the door
with a squeal.

What the hell was going on? A glance at
the crystal ball, and Lissa’s skin tingled when she glimpsed the two tiny
figures still doing the horizontal boogie, and not about to stop anytime soon.

Damn. She had to hide the thing so no
one else would be able to view the intimate scene. Maybe throw a towel across
it.

“Hey, you made it.” Lissa extended her
arms toward the couple who lived in the condo next door. Selena’s bedroom
abutted theirs, making her privy to their lovemaking style, which apparently
involved quite a few gadgets. The handcuff dangling from her wrist was one. The
wide leather collar around his neck sporting a leash ring, Lissa could only
guess to be another. His open leather vest revealed a pierced nipple.

When another sideways glance at the sphere
showed only its calm incandescence, Lissa sighed with relief. That was the last
time she’d lay her hands on it. For tonight, at least. Tomorrow, she’d
experiment more.

Selena whispered to Lissa after the
couple had moved to the kitchen, “Bet they already had those costumes.”

Lissa giggled and lit the pumpkin
candles on the end table. She stiffened as the two guests passed the food
table, noticed the crystal ball, and caressed it.

The ball’s white shimmer stayed flat. How
strange.

The bell rang again, and Lissa’s skirt
swayed like a silent bell as she went to the door and pulled it open.

Her planned greeting dissipated into
thin air. On her threshold stood the new guy from three seventy-seven. His wide
eyes, the color of raw umber, lit up when his penetrating gaze met hers. Maybe
it was the way the light fell across his face as he stood outside her door that
gave him a certain glow. His pirate shirt rippled in the breeze like a
luminescent white flag. Even his black pirate pants and boots had a shimmer.

From her mouth stumbled, “Hello.”

He held out a rose. “For you, Queen of
Hearts.”

“Thank you.” She pressed the silky
petals to her nose, taking in its sweet scent as her gaze drank in the sight of
him.

His aquiline nose offset his full lips,
drawn into a smile any pirate would envy, for it was a perfect smile, one that could
shake the confidence of another man, or charm the bloomers off a lady.

From his other hand, he presented a
bottle of Shiraz.

She smiled. “Aren’t you sweet. But I
thought pirates drank rum.”

“That’s a stereotype we pirates are
trying to break.” He stepped closer. “Among other things.”

A sense of familiarity swept over her
as she peered into his face. “Have we met?”

A dark-haired man wearing a black mask
walked in behind two women dressed as vampires. Beneath his black cape, his
black costume clung to his body like a second skin.

“No clue.” A muted version of the buzz
Lissa felt earlier invaded her head again. Maybe dehydration was setting in.
She’d been so busy making food, she’d forgotten to eat. She poured water from
the tap and gulped it.

Selena raised an eyebrow. “Me, either.
But I’d sure like to. With a body that ripped, he must work out every day.”

Under her breath, Lissa said, “If I’d
known Trick or Treat could pay off so well, I’d have done this a long time
ago.”

Rafe smiled at her, as if he heard. She
carried the rose to the table and placed it between the two tapered candles.
Prickles of flames licked at her as he approached.

“Great party.” He stood close, as if he
knew her well. His body heat emanated like an aura, and her body picked up on
it like a magnet.

“It is now.” Shy, Lissa usually left
the flirting to her roommate, but felt surprisingly at ease with Rafe.

He returned her smile, then glanced at
the crystal ball. “Very realistic. A wonderful specimen of beryllium aluminum
silicate.” He moved closer to it.

Laughing, she furrowed her brow. “Excuse
me?”

“The crystal commonly used for
scrying.” At her confused look, he explained, “Scrying is the art of crystal
gazing. The Scottish Highlanders called these Stones of Power. This one looks
old enough to have originated back then. The scrollwork on the pedestal legs is
fantastic.”

“Yes. I thought so, too.” She moved
closer, drawn not to the ball, but to him.

He inspected it thoroughly without
laying a finger on it. Odd, since that was the first thing most others did when
they saw it.

He bent over the orb. “You don’t see
many in this old design, with the three legs symbolizing birth. The crystal is
flawless, too. It represents the universe, and what is to follow.” Straightening,
he appeared startled by the mirror. “And how did you come by this piece?”

Strange how he examined it but
pointedly avoided touching it. “My roommate Selena found both of them in her
grandmother’s attic.”

“You never know what’s lurking in
attics, I suppose.” The way he said it unnerved her. Like the way he followed
the movements of the mysterious man in black. Or maybe he was more interested
in Selena, who had struck up a conversation with the guy. The way she sidled
next to him and the adoring look in her eyes, things appeared to be heating up.
Maybe Selena’s dry spell would go up in flames tonight.

When she turned to ask Rafe if he
wanted another drink, her heart fell. He was now in front of the mirror,
touching its golden scrollwork as if they were ancient runes from which he
divined the future.

If he would only divine her need to be
touched like that.

She needed a drink. When she turned,
she bumped into the guy who’d been talking to Selena. Embarrassed, she said, “Sorry.
It’s getting a bit crowded in here.”

From across the room, his sculpted body
and handsome features had bedazzled her. Up close, he emanated a palpable heat.
Like a jalapeno pepper, burning her from the inside.

Needing breathing space, she stepped
away from him. Her mouth had parched, and she eyed the punch bowl, ready to
excuse herself.

“Kickass party.” As if he’d read her
mind, he pressed a plastic cup into her hand. “Here, try this. I mixed this
just for you.”

The liquid within was amber like
whiskey, but thicker. Like sewage sludge.

“That’s sweet, but I—”

He tightened his grasp around her
fingers. “To thank you for the party. Try it, you’ll love it.”

If taking a sip would get rid of him,
she would. Then she’d wash the nasty stuff down with the shiraz.

After bringing the cup to her lips, the
liquid was surprisingly tasty. “Mm. What is it?” One drop had sparked an
unquenchable thirst.

“An old family recipe.” His dark eyes
sparked with red at their seemingly bottomless center, like an abyss. Her body
wavered, as if she were falling from an endless height.

“Thanks. I need a stiff drink.” Lissa
sipped. The liquid curled around her tongue like a tangy sweet snake. “This is
really good.” She gulped every last drop, shaking the cup to coax more from it.
When it was empty, she set down the cup and blinked hard.

“Oh no.” Clutching the table, she tried
to steady herself. Her head spun, her vision blurred as images separated from
themselves, wavered and collided.

“Are you all right?” a man asked.

She pressed a hand to her forehead to
ease the building pressure. “No. I need to sit down.”

“Let me help you.” His hands at her
waist, he guided her to the nearest chair, then knelt beside her. “Any better?”

She looked from her hand, holding his,
to his face. It was Rafe. She relaxed with an audible sigh, until she looked
away into the living room. “Oh. I’m afraid not.” Her stomach roiled as she
squinted at her guests, alarmed at what she saw.

“What is it?” He searched her face as
if he could intuit the bizarre scene.

She kept her gaze on him, the only one
immune to the spectacle whirling all around them, as if they sat in the center
of a hurricane. “It’s hard to describe. And you’d only laugh at me.”

“No, I promise. Tell me what you see.” His
seriousness prompted her to look again.

The more she looked, the more afraid
she was. “I don’t think I can.” He’d think she was crazy.

He gently squeezed her hand. “Please.”

He was the only steady thing in the
room. She hated to look away from him. “It’s as if there were two—or more—of
everyone. But it’s not the usual double vision people get when they drink. The
duplicate people aren’t the same as the real ones. Their features are
grotesque. It’s like I’m seeing everyone’s evil twin or something.”

His head moved in a slight nod as he
scanned the crowd. “I was afraid of that.”

She concentrated on him like a guiding
star. “What do you mean?”

His soft voice did not reassure her.
“You’re witnessing the duality of humans. Everyone has adark side, and struggles against it every day. The dark nature of
each and every person has become visible to you. At this very moment, you can
probably tell what each one is thinking by the action of the shadow self.”

Narrowing her eyes to focus, she
watched as Amy, their next-door neighbor, walked toward her, followed by a
scantily-clad version of herself who pulled down her Marie Antoinette bustier,
exposing her breasts to Rafe with a wink and a roll of her tongue. “Great
party, Liss.”

“Thanks.” Lissa held tight to Rafe’s
hand.

Amy bent over the spread of food at the
table, and her shadow followed suit, but stuffed food into her open mouth
faster than she could possibly swallow. The shadow self of a man whose gaze was
riveted to Amy’s ass dropped his pants as he moved behind her. Amy’s darker
self spread her legs, and he humped her as she moaned and squealed in delight.

All across the room, similar
occurrences took place between shadow selves—wandering hands and mouths and
tongues across exposed breasts and asses. As two men spoke, their duplicates
jabbed at one another in imitation of the conversational barbs. One shadowy
woman floated to the shelves and peered behind books, opened drawers and closed
doors.

“This is too bizarre. Especially…” She
jerked her head behind her. “… her.”

“Her?” He raised a quizzical brow.

“Me. Or my shadow self. The one standing
too close, who won’t stop nudging me and whispering awful things about the
guests.”

He squeezed her hand. “You have the
right idea. Ignore her.”

Her eyes searched his, and all across
him. “But why is there only one of you?”

He smiled as he stood, lifted her cup
from the table and walked into the kitchen, where he dumped the remainder into
the sink. A curl of smoke rose from the drain with a hiss.

Into a clean cup, he poured ginger ale
and carried it to her. “Hold this.”

She took it from him. He reached into
his pirate pants, drew out a small glass vial and emptied its contents into the
ginger ale. “You must drink this. It’s an antidote—the only antidote. And I’m
afraid even this won’t remove the toxin entirely. Residual effects will continue.”

Watching the contents whirl in a
miniature hurricane, she asked, “For how long?”

“It’s hard to say.”

Steadying herself, she looked up at
him. “How do I know I can trust you?”

He bent over her, his face close to
hers. His dark eyes sparkled. “You know, Lissa.”

Something about him seemed so familiar.
“Do I know you from somewhere?”

A rueful smile filled his face. “I’ve
known you all your life.”

“What?” The truth of his statement rang
clear. She was safe with him.

He held out the cup. “Drink. All of
it.”

She brought the cup to her lips. Where
the other had sparked a wildfire that screamed through her bloodstream, this
drink quenched the fire with a flood of calm. The outlines of their guests
vibrated into a single figure. Most of them, anyway. Several persisted in
showing their shadow selves.

He crouched beside her. “Any better?”

She attempted to smile. “Yes, but there
are still a few people with doubles.”

His gaze swept the room. “I’m not
surprised. It depends on the strength of the person’s dark nature. In some
cases, the shadow self can overtake the person, if they allow it.”

As Lissa stood, her nerves tightened.
“I wonder where Selena is. I haven’t seen her for awhile.” It wasn’t like her
roomie to miss their own party.

He rose beside her. “Or her friend,
come to think of it.”

Despite her joking about Selena’s dry
spell ending tonight, Lissa was overcome with dread. “I have a bad feeling
about this.” About that man.

“Let’s go find them.” Guiding her by
the elbow, Rafewalked them through the crowd.
On the sofa, one shadowy figure yawned, remote in hand.

But no sign of Selena. When the
bathroom door opened, Lissa stepped in, with Rafe close behind. The shower and
the closet stood empty.

“Upstairs,” Lissa urged, her dread
expanding into worry.

Rafe bounded up the steps and opened
the door to Lissa’s bedroom. They opened the closet, checked every corner and
nook. She hurried out the door to the bathroom across the hall. The door was
locked. Lissa pounded on it. “Selena?” The toilet’s flush was the only answer.

Rafe grasped her wrist. “Listen.”

He pulled her toward Selena’s bedroom.

A muffled squeal came from within.
Lissa gasped. “The closet,” she whispered.

“Stay here.” He rushed to the doors and
flung them wide.

On the floor, Selena’s white leg
twitched, in stark contrast, beneath the black shape of the man. As he turned
with a growl, teeth bared, his eyes flashed red. Atop his head, two buds of
horns popped forth.

Dizziness came over Lissa. She forced
herself to look away from his red eyes. “Selena!”

Her friend’s wild, wide eyes were
smeared black with mascara, her face wet with tears. Her low-cut top had been
ripped apart, her black lacy Victoria’s Secret bra revealed. “Lissa,” she
whimpered, her lip quivering.

With one sweeping motion, Rafe reached
in the closet, and the man in black tumbled onto the open floor.

Rafe glanced back at Lissa. “Bring the
mirror.”

The black-costumed man jammed his
shoulders into Rafe’s knees, and he fell to the carpet.

Selena backed further into the closet
until only her feet could be seen beneath the hanging clothes.

“The mirror, Lissa—go.” Rafe slammed
his fist against the other man’s jaw and knocked him backward.

Lissa rushed downstairs to the credenza
and struggled to get the thing off the wall. It seemed to have attached itself,
suctioned the four corners against the paint. Using a serving knife, she pried
it away enough to insert her fingers around it, and tugged. It budged a little.

Overhead, thumps and grunts became
louder. Oddly, the party goers continued their chit chat and laughter. Maybe
they thought it was part of the Halloween CD that Lissa had put on as
background noise.

With a determined aargh, she
yanked the mirror away, and it toppled onto her. She shuffled to regain her
balance. The mirror hadn’t seemed this heavy when Selena hung it. Now, it
leaned away from Lissa as if resisting her. She set it on the floor to catch
her breath, then dragged it across the carpet. The scrollwork caught the rug
like tiny hands desperately grasping for a hold.

Step by step, she wrestled it upstairs.
Finally, she inched it into the bedroom and propped it against the footboard of
Selena’s bed.

At seeing the mirror, the
black-costumed guy scrambled toward the window.

Rafe held out his hand as if to catch a
baseball. A force of energy emitted from his palm, like heat waves rising from
blacktop on a summer’s day.

The man in black was pulled backward.
He grabbed the curtains, the bureau drawer handles, but he couldn’t stop from
being drawn.

Rafe positioned himself behind the
mirror.

With renewed vigor, the man dug his
fingers into the carpet and scrambled backward. He stretched his hand out
behind him.

Lissa gasped when she realized why. He
was reaching for the mirror atop the dresser. He’s trying to escape. She ripped a blanket from the bed and tossed
it over the dresser mirror.

At a low growl, she turned. The man in
black flailed at her.

Her hand brushed the appliqué hearts on
her skirt, and her fear vanished. A surge of strength invigorated her, and she
raised the red heart. “You can’t defeat the power of love.”

Snarling, he bared long, pointed teeth.
Surprise crossed his face. His foot lifted from the carpet as if drawn by an
unseen hand. His leg trembled as he moved toward the mirror. He yelped as his
toes vanished beyond the reflective glass, then his ankle.

Lissa gasped, unable to breathe as she
watched. It seemed too surreal to believe.

From inside the gilded frame, tiny
silver hands protruded. They clutched at the man’s black pants, and pulled. His
foreleg, then his knee disappeared. He pushed his other foot against the
scrollwork in an attempt to get a toehold, but the hands wrapped around his
ankle and pulled that leg inside the mirror, too. He angled his torso and
grasped the bedpost, but vanished further, up to his waist. In a final desperate
act, he grabbed the mirror’s scrollwork, but his shoulders, head and arms were
gone into the mercurial swirl, with only his fingers still clutching the
outside, still remaining on this side of the parallel reality.

Rafe clucked his tongue, touched the
tip of his shoe to the clenched fingers. With a sucking slurp, the fingers
extended with alarm into the air, then melted into the mirror.

Rafe raised his hand toward the mirror
again. It rumbled and shook. In the center, black dot appeared and widened.
Cracks spread from the centrifugal point outward to each edge, and splintered
the mirror into the tiniest shards that crumbled to the carpet in a heap.

He took a black silk bag from his
pocket and held it open. Each tiny piece of silver glass flew into the bag with
a shriek, a piercing noise that made Lissa hold her ears. When the last shard
resisted by edging away on the carpet, he bent to hold the bag closer. It
screamed as it rose, and he closed the bag as it landed inside.

“Oh, my God.” Lissa held her hands to
her mouth.

“Exactly.” Rafe smiled.

“What was he?” She stepped toward him
but stopped, not wanting to be near the bag in case the fabric should tear.

Rafe tied the strings of the silken
purse. “A cockroach of the underworld. A demon.”

Selena crawled from the closet. “Are
you kidding me? The first hot guy that wants me in three months has to be a
demon?”

Lissa went to her, and helped her to
stand. Her humor was a thin mask for the horror she’d gone through. Selena
shook, and seemed barely able to stand on her own.

“You should have left that mirror in
your grandmother’s attic, securely covered,” Rafe said. “Once it had an eye
open into this world, there was no stopping it.” Tsk’ing, he wagged a finger at
her.

With Lissa’s guidance, Selena shuffled
to the bed and sank atop it. “How do you know all this? How did you know to
come here to fight it?”

He attached the black bag to his belt.
“Intuition.”

By the way he said it, Lissa knew it
was much more than that. “So you’re the power of light that overcame the dark.
The good guy.” Her voice fell flat with disappointment.

As if he’d heard her thought, he cocked
an eyebrow as his gaze wandered over her. “Tonight was merely the beginning.”

“Do you mean more demons will escape?”

“Tonight is All Hallow’s Eve, the one
night of the year when the gate between the spirit world and earth is thrown
wide.”

Some steely reserve of energy rose up,
bracing her limbs with raw power. “Let me help. If I can.”

He sent her a grin that was equal parts
wicked and pure. “You do me a great honor.”

She glanced at Selena. “Will you be all
right?”

Her friend waved her on. “I’m fine.
Go.”

Lissa couldn’t help but wonder. “Is
there something about this costume that protected me?”

Tenderness
showed in Rafe’s smile. “You spoke truly when you said the power of love was
greater than any other.”

As he spoke, he traced the outline of
the heart stitched to the center of her costume. Sizzling energy trailed along
his touch and penetrated the fabric to her skin. To her veins. Racing faster,
the pulsing electricity built within her.

Lissa walked to where Selena curled on
the bed, and laid one hand on her friend’s head, and the other on her side,
close to her heart. She let the love flow from within through her fingers. “Be
well.” To her surprise, the stream grew steady, and the well of reserves
somehow deepened, beyond what she’d dreamed possible.

Selena’s trembling calmed, and her shaky
breaths became even and strong. She sat up, and then rose to stand beside
Lissa. Fear and anguish no longer showed in her face. Instead, she embraced
Lissa.

Now she could go without guilt.
Returning to Rafe, she admitted, “I have so much yet to learn.”

“You know more than you think.” He
crooked his elbow toward her. “But I will teach you.”

Linking her arm through his, she
smiled. “Let’s go exterminate the cockroaches, then.”

And afterward, she’d show him what else
the Queen of Hearts could do. If she learned how to harness the power of love,
she might be able to cast a spell over him and conjure up the future revealed
to her by the crystal ball.